NOVEL NEXT WORLD Episode 018
Episode 018
Im Sara was a long-time fan of South Korea’s top actor, ‘Ji Jung-hyun’.
The secret to Im Sara’s fandom lasting from her 20s through her 30s and into her 40s wasn’t special.
It was just that Im Sara’s standards were too high to be a fan of any other actor.
She had watched many actors debut and gain popularity, but Im Sara’s heart had never wavered even once until now.
It was because one of their looks, acting, or personality always felt too young or immature.
‘It can’t be helped. Our oppa doesn’t have the title of South Korea’s top actor for nothing.’
Ji Jung-hyun wasn’t perfect in everything from the beginning either.
But now, there were hardly any actors in the entertainment industry who could be evaluated as more complete than Ji Jung-hyun.
Some people couldn’t find charm in someone too perfect, and Im Sara was once that kind of person too.
But now she had become too accustomed to the perfect Ji Jung-hyun.
So she couldn’t find charm in anyone who wasn’t as perfect anymore.
As such, Im Sara had developed some affection for FQ, Ji Jung-hyun’s agency, after being a fan for a long time.
It was natural since Ji Jung-hyun had stayed with the same company since his debut.
Of course, there were times when Im Sara criticized or resented FQ.
Things like excessive variety show schedules for work promotion, and only five fan signing events since debut, irritated her.
There were times when she didn’t like FQ’s behavior itself at all.
But Im Sara was generally favorable towards FQ, and she was also dissatisfied with the
‘It’s natural for An Myung-hyun to leave since a school violence controversy with clear evidence broke out.’
But to give the role that was played by a core member of a popular idol group to a rookie actor who just debuted.
It was incomprehensible.
Above all, it was because this rookie actor would portray the role of Shin Han-jae, which Ji Jung-hyun would take over, for the first three episodes.
It was absolutely unacceptable.
‘These days, a drama’s success is determined in the first three episodes, what are they thinking? Won’t our oppa suffer losses too at this rate?’
Im Sara wasn’t the only one with such concerns.
Almost all the fans of the lead actors cast in
-Ah… Won’t this ruin Arrest?
-Sister Ji-young! Escape! It’s not too late!
-This problem wouldn’t have happened if An Myung-hyun hadn’t bullied in the first place….
-But still, is it right to shove a rookie actor into that role?
-Honestly, this is going too far. I personally sent a complaint email but got no response.
-A complaint email? Isn’t that a bit much;;;
-Overreaction22222
-I think a complaint email is too much too, but it shows how frustrating the situation is
-What about actors like Kim Jung-min or Ahn Ji-young? If their work fails again, it’ll greatly damage their image
-Shut up, it’s none of your business
-Successfully trolled^^
-Is there anyone with any information about the rookie actor? Why isn’t there even a teaser?
-The teasers mostly focus on the adult actors. That’s the main part, so it’s natural
-There have been 3 teasers, shouldn’t the high school student role appear in at least one of them?
-I heard there was one, but they changed the video when An Myung-hyun left
-With the main high school student role gone, the broadcasting station had no choice
-What broadcasting station? Doesn’t the production company release teasers?
-No, it depends, but usually the broadcasting station makes and releases teasers. It’s their promotion
-Anyway, we have to watch the first episode without any information about the new main high school student role
-I’m so anxious. What if he’s ugly or can’t act?
-Both could be bad, so brace yourself
The fans were quickly posting comments as if trying to shake off their anxiety through conversation.
Im Sara’s anxiety grew as she read these comments.
The public opinion was generally not good, as if this anxiety had spread not just to actor fans but also to drama fans.
‘It’s hard to succeed when there’s controversy even before it starts…. Unless there’s an amazing twist….’
So Im Sara sat in front of the TV to watch the first broadcast of
As a fan of Ji Jung-hyun, she had to watch the live broadcast even if
‘There’s also fun in watching and criticizing a failed work.’
Shortly after.
After boring advertisements, the first broadcast of
Meanwhile, negative opinions continued to rapidly appear on the drama community.
Im Sara glanced at the actor playing the high school student Shin Han-jae tying his shoelaces with his head down and smiled bitterly.
‘It’s going to be a party of complaints and criticism. I’m already annoyed thinking about the stress.’
But soon Im Sara’s expression changed.
The moment the actor who was tying his shoelaces raised his head to start running.
It was because she had the illusion that light was pouring from the TV screen.
It wasn’t an exaggeration, it really felt that way.
Even though there were no effects added in the production, she couldn’t help but feel that way as soon as she saw the actor’s face.
‘He’s handsome….’
For the first time in her life, Im Sara had this thought about a man other than Ji Jung-hyun.
Even though it was only the second time in her life she thought someone was handsome, she felt that expression wasn’t enough.
From when that actor started running until a long time passed and the blood-covered man appeared.
Im Sara couldn’t take her eyes off with a blank expression.
It felt like her whole mind was captivated by one actor’s beauty.
If the blood-covered man hadn’t appeared and split the screen, she would have surely remained in that state.
‘Ah, Im Sara. You need to come to your senses. What kind of impropriety is this, setting aside Oppa Jung-hyun?’
Im Sara barely woke from her enchanted state and gathered her thoughts.
‘He’s handsome, so his acting must be lacking. He’s clearly in his early 20s. It’s too much to expect a naturally good-looking rookie to be good at acting too.’
Even Ji Jung-hyun, born with outstanding looks, struggled with acting controversies in his early debut days.
Of course, the controversy was completely resolved after a couple of works, but it wasn’t uncommon for handsome actors to face this issue.
For handsome actors, acting controversies were like a tag.
‘So this actor will surely show poor acting…’
But Im Sara couldn’t finish her thought.
As the running continued, she felt the actor’s expression, which had only been bright, gradually stiffening.
Subtle emotional acting that ordinary actors couldn’t easily express.
Im Sara, a long-time fan of top actors, instinctively realized this wasn’t simply because he was tired.
And as if to reward this, the acting in Episode 1, Scene 1 reached its climax.
Boom!
The blood-covered man flew through the air, and the rookie actor exchanged glances with him.
The rookie actor’s previously bright emotions were nowhere to be found.
In their place were emotions of surprise, anxiety, depression, confusion, and fear.
It was perfect acting that was hard to believe a rookie actor could achieve.
[With one man’s death….]
[In the alleys of Seongdong, jealousy, anger, despair, fraud, suicide, and murder began to sprout….]
[Until then, I didn’t know what that meant….]
Afterwards, a voice as handsome as the face flowed as narration.
Im Sara felt goosebumps all over her body.
At the same time, she felt a kind of premonition that was blasphemous but impossible to deny.
A premonition that, though not right now, maybe within the first three episodes of
* * *
“Everyone…”
I swallowed hard, anticipating my brother’s next words.
Fortunately, my brother continued with a faint smile.
“They’re praising you. They say it’s casting that lacks neither looks nor acting skills.”
My father, who was listening to my brother’s words together, gave a thumbs up.
“Acclaim from the very first scene! That’s really great! Second son!”
I was especially happy about the praise that my acting wasn’t lacking.
I wanted to pick up my smartphone right away and check the community comments.
But I couldn’t because
Monitoring the live broadcast was one of the most important tasks for reviewing acting.
‘To become a better actor, now is the time to exercise patience.’
So, I barely shook off the temptation and focused again on monitoring the first broadcast.
Even while conversing with family members, I constantly watched the TV screen, so I didn’t miss any content.
‘Fast-paced development and tension-filled direction… Everything is so good. No wonder
I knew
But watching it again, this fact hit home a bit more clearly.
Especially Goo Kyung-mo and Yang I-deum’s acting was no less than that of skilled actors, despite playing high school roles.
‘Kyung-mo is an actor who has slowly built his career from child roles. I-deum is already a veteran who has played various roles in two movies and one drama.’
It was natural that their acting stood out.
And naturally, I became interested in the agencies they belonged to.
I knew that agencies played a significant role in helping them develop such acting skills and find suitable roles.
‘Both of their agencies showed interest in me, so I should consider them positively. If I have meetings later, I’ll get answers.’
After that, the new actor playing Hwang In-seop’s high school role took the spotlight.
There were some lacking parts, but it didn’t feel awkward like when An Myung-hyun was acting as high school student Shin Han-jae.
Especially his emotional acting was good, and in some scenes, he interpreted things differently from me.
‘So it can be acted that way too. It’s better than I thought? I should take note of this.’
According to what I’ve figured out so far…
The method mask implemented situations based on my analysis of the work.
So while it was good for repeated practice, sometimes the acting could be a bit closed off.
In that sense, watching another actor’s different interpretation of the same role was very helpful.
‘Watching the occasional veteran supporting actor’s performance is also a big help.’
Most veteran supporting actors could be called masters of acting with over 10 years of experience.
Even though they were also supporting actors, they were on a different level from flower vase extras like me.
‘What was that just now?’
‘To handle this part in such a way…’
‘Amazing…’
I kept inwardly admiring and interestingly monitored every scene of
They say you see as much as you know, and it was worth deeply studying the script of
‘It’s a shame… If I had monitored the first broadcast in advance, I could have asked good questions to the senior actors…’
As I was resolving to make good use of the remaining shooting time, the first broadcast of